Stakeholder Involvement in Upscaling of Soil Fertility Research Output in Tharaka-Nithi County, Kenya

Food insecurity in Sub-Saharan Africa has prompted a lot of research in the development of soil fertility technologies; however, few of the recommendations from soil fertility management research have been put into use by the target end-users. The objective of the study was to investigate information exchange pathways used by researchers in upscaling of soil fertility in Maara and Mbeere South Sub-counties in Kenya. Structured questionnaires were used to collect information from 22 researchers and 240 farmers. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics like frequency, mean, and percentages, while Chi-square, Kendal\u27s correlation coefficient was used to test the magnitude of the relationship between dependent and independent variables. Inadequate resources materials and poor networking among stakeholders were among the challenges that the researchers faced in the dissemination of their research outputs. The findings also showed that there was a positive and significant correlation between farm size and the mass media approach. Researchers and extension agents should use a mixed approach; this is the use of combined individual, group, and mass media approaches to cater to the different preferences based on socio-economic characteristics of farmers

Role of Social Capital on Uptake of Sustainable Agricultural Intensification Practices’ Combinations

Smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa are faced with many challenges in the production of maize and legumes. Some of the challenges include soil mining, drought, soil erosion, input acquisition among others. These challenges cannot be alleviated with the adoption of a single agricultural practice but a bundle of combination. There was need, therefore, to evaluate if social capital among other factors influences adoption of the different combination of the six Sustainable Agricultural Intensification Practices among smallholder maize-legume systems in Kenya. The study used secondary data from Adoption Pathway project panel dataset collected from Bungoma, Siaya, Meru, Tharaka Nithi and Embu counties, in three waves:  covering 613 households in the baseline, 535 in the midline and 495 in the end line was used in the analysis. Eighteen possible combinations adopted by smallholder farmers, a Principal Component Analysis was used to reduces data dimensionality, such that Seven possible clusters were formed that were homogeneous within. An index of the different combinations in the cluster was then formed for each household. Using STATA software, a Seemingly Unrelated Regression model was used in the analysis of the seven equations against a set of dependent variables, among them social capital. The findings of the study showered that social capital is not significant in explaining adoption of different combinations of SAIPs that a household adopted except for cognitive social capital and participation level in group institutions where the household was a member. Other factors that influenced adoption of combination of SAIPs included age of the household head, received information about SAIP and input markets, amount of money that a household got as income and that which they saved. Additionally, the spatial distance of the farming plot measured as the number of walking minutes from the household homestead and the number of years one has been living in the village practicing maize-legume production also significantly influenced the combinations of the SAIPs that a household adopted. Policy interventions should encourage and promote better access to information and encourage participation in group institutions. Keywords: Principal Component Analysis, Clusters, Seemingly Unrelated Regressio

Towards Improving Agricultural Marketing Information Systems for Smallholder Farmers: A Tharaka Nithi Case

Agricultural marketing information systems play a crucial role in farmers' decision making process on production and marketing of farm produce. Farmers require easy access to relevant, up to date and adequate agricultural marketing information. The extent of access and use of agricultural marketing information systems in Tharaka Nithi and Kenya in general is not clear. Often information platforms exist but they are not accessible to the farmers, extension workers and policy makers for decision making process. This study sought to map the existing agricultural marketing information systems, assess the challenges farmers face in their access and use and propose improvements to guide development of robust easy to use and accessible agricultural marketing information systems. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews and analyzed by use of qualitative and quantitative methods. Findings show that, a number of agricultural marketing information system platforms exist in Tharaka Nithi. Farmers who had access to relevant information on appropriate farming methods and output marketing sold their farm produce at higher prices. We have estimated the financial benefit of access to information as Ksh 460 per 90 kg bag of maize and Ksh 870 per 90 kg bag of beans. Using 10% of total land area of Tharaka Nithi to represent the high potential land allocated to maize and beans, we estimate that at the entire county level the financial benefits associated with access to information could conservatively be estimated at more than Ksh 200 million (US$ 2 million) per year. These benefits can potentially be scaled up with improved information dissemination because currently, over 50% of the farmers in the region lack access to various types of existing information packages. To address challenges, there is a need for building capacity of the farmers on importance of market information, various sources of such information and appropriate interpretation of such information as a driver for agricultural profitability. Marketing group membership is crucial for farm produce aggregation, negotiation for better prices and acquisition of farm inputs at lower costs due to economies of scale. Further, the extension workers ought to be proactive in information dissemination via platforms like Msoko, Soko-pepe and Mfarm which can reach many farmers simultaneously. The study further highlights a need for government support in development of technological and ICT infrastructure as a foundation for modern ICT based marketing information systems. The conventional dissemination method that requires direct contact between the extension workers and farmers is currently impractical due to low extension worker farmer ratio

Best practice guide to socially and gender-inclusive development in the Kenyan intensive dairy sector

This report is a guide to best practices for gender and social inclusion in Kenyan intensive dairy sector. This guide is meant as a practical resource to inform the development of Kenya’s Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Action (NAMA) strategy. Kenya’s NAMA will provide climate finance mechanisms to a number of stakeholders in the livestock sector who are currently practising or interested in low-emissions development. Although development interventions in Kenya’s dairy industry have begun to recognize gender and social differentiation issues, there is a critical need to fill the knowledge gaps that exist in the practical application of gender mainstreaming from policy to field level. This guide provides a synthesis of lessons learned and recommendations for gender-equitable low-emissions development. The guide draws upon both extant literature and project experiences revealed by industry experts (n=12). To safeguard the anonymity of participants, no personal names or official positions are mentioned. This guide solely focuses on high-potential dairy development areas, as these are the priority sites for Kenya’s NAMA

Where Community Management Works: The Evolution and Professional Management of Piped Water Supplies in Rural Kenya

By adopting process tracing in case study research, this research examines how seven rural piped water schemes in Embu and Tharaka Nithi counties in Kenya were constructed and successfully (or not) adopted professional management of their water supplies leading to sustainable services. The schemes have existed in some capacity for the past 30+ years. This research is in consideration that rural water supplies in Sub-Saharan Africa are often characterized by management challenges and evidence from the region indicates that about a third of rural water systems are non-functional at any given time. An intricate interaction between resolution of collective action problems, social capital, and specialization is seen to influence the ability of schemes to evolve into professionally managed organizations. This argument is premised on how the schemes were able to i) draw from the ideals of self-help under Kenya’s Harambee movement to ensure construction of their water schemes, ii) appropriate experiences from coffee cooperative societies to management of their water schemes, and iii) hire trained personnel to perform varied operations and management functions within their schemes. Further, the research shows that there is clear added value for having institutional and organizational arrangements that support the emergence and operation of professionally managed community water schemes. The research argues that by appropriating an institutional template from the coffee cooperative societies, successful schemes were able to develop a more nuanced chain of actor relationships within their operations than is often associated with community management of rural water supplies in Sub-Saharan Africa. Specifically, successful schemes demonstrate a clear separation of oversight by an elected water management committee and day-to-day operations by an employed staff. This separation is accompanied by defined incentives and accountability frameworks between the water users, the water management committees, and the scheme staff. The experiences of the schemes, however, also demonstrate that external oversight mechanisms are needed to enforce these incentive and accountability frameworks

Using remote sensing techniques for rural development planning in Kenya: a study in Meru district

The thesis sets out to examine the utility of remote sensing techniques in helping to define recommendation domains relatively homogeneous agricultural areas - to act as foci for agricultural development planning in lower Meru, Kenya. Recommendation domains are used in farming systems research (FSR) for agricultural research and development initiatives enabling greater participation from rural producers within the development process. Recommendation domains are defined by agricultural potential (agro-ecological zones) and farming systems (agro-economic groupings). A multilevel approach incorporating Landsat MSS data, 1:50,000 stereo panchromatic air photography, large scale aerial colour slide photography and ground surveys is used to collect data on the farming systems of the study area. Relatively homogeneous farming patterns are identified and mapped using a number of different computer software packages. These patterns are related to previously identified zones of agricultural potential (agro-ecological zones) to define recommendation domains for new agricultural development initiatives in the area. Several domains are identified for specific attention. Recommendations are made which are relevant to both national and district level agricultural planning in Kenya. It is suggested that future development programmes should focus on areas undergoing population movement and cultivation change since without careful planning these changes are likely to detrimentally affect the local farming systems and natural environment